Pouring all his power into his final attempt to save the world, Spyro did not realize just how big of an impact this will have when he also uses his dark energy. Now ancient evils are reawakened to wreak havoc upon the Dragon Realms.

Before I start this chapter I want to thank XxTheSomeonexX for not only pointing out many errors in my writing, but also helping me fix those problems! Also thanks to wolfartist117 for pointing out that Cynder is a bit OOC in this story. As such I will be changing her as of this chapter (please mail me again if I still got it wrong).

Now on to Chapter 3!

xXx

The next morning Spyro was awoken by an intruding light shining through the windows, but waking up was the last thing on his mind. After retelling their adventures the cheetah village held a celebration larger than any they have held before. Meat of every kind was served, varying from fish, to deer, to rabbit, to bird. It was a night that would not soon be forgotten by those who attended.

The festivities went on long after both Spyro and Cynder decided to retire to their luxurious hut.

As much as he would like to get dragged back to the blissful embrace of sleep he had to get back to Warfang to tell the Guardians of their success and honor the memory of his mentor and friend who gave his life to ensure victory.

He rose from his cushions and lazily stretched his limbs to dispose of his morning stiffness. He looked over to where Cynder slept the previous night and saw an empty sleeping space 'Must have gone to get breakfast.'

Spyro decided that breakfast would not be such a bad idea and took off to the village centre. On his way there he received congratulations' and thanks from most of the cheetah folk he walked by. Spyro knew why he deserved the praises but now that the war is over he wanted to be treated like a normal dragon and enjoy what remains of his youth.

After some more walking he reached the village centre and saw Cynder and Tro talking to each other, Tro occasionally laughing a bit. Cynder spotted him and waved him over to join them.

"Morning Spyro" said the black dragoness and the temporary chief.

"Morning Cynder, Tro" replied the purple scaled dragon.

"Cynder was just telling me of the little adventure of how you traveled here" said Tro with an amused look on his face "I must say I am surprised that you were able to make it this far."

Spyro glared at his black scaled friend "You didn't!"

"Yup, every detail" she said with a soft laughter "I even told him the parts where you begged me to catch your food and help you walk to shelter. I was just telling him about how you crashed into the river while trying to fly again, nearly drowning had it not been for me."

"But you never-"

"Now now young dragon." Tro cut him off "It is nothing to be ashamed of, you are just lucky you had this fine dragoness there to look after you."

Spyro knew arguing would be futile. He lowered his head in defeat and went to get some food.

Cynder was barely able to keep a straight face upon seeing Spyro like that "Thanks, never thought I could get him this early in the morning."

Tro was also amused at Cynder's attempt to provide some entertainment for all three of them "It was my pleasure young one, but he was not that helpless was he?"

"Hmhm, nah." Cynder said and looked at the large cheetah "He could barely stand from exhaustion and I used my Wind Element to push him into the river. When I did that atleast we both enjoyed it…well, maybe me a bit more than him."

Tro merely nodded to acknowledge what she said "Back to what we were talking about, when do you plan on departing for Warfang?"

"I was planning on discussing that with Spyro, but I think we will leave when we finish breakfast." said Cynder as she got up to get some food.

Spyro could not believe Cynder would exaggerate like that. He easily forgave her as he knew that she was just trying to lift both their spirits with the severe exaggeration. As he went through the available food he spotted a particularly large venison and took it between his jaws. He trotted back to the table where he left Cynder and Tro to devour his meal.

The moment he got there he sprang into his meal, eating it so fast Tro assumed he used some sort of element to inhale the meat "It's already dead Spyro, it won't run away if you eat at a normal pace!" scolded Cynder. Spyro looked like he wanted to say something but Cynder put a paw in front of his face "Haven't I already told you? Don't talk with your mouth full. Just keep doing what you are doing to your food while I talk, okay?"

Spyro nodded his head while eating the rest of his food with gusto as Cynder spoke "When we are done eating I think we should go to Warfang. It's a long flight so if we leave within the hour we can still make it there before nightfall."

Swallowing the last of his food Spyro could now speak without fear of the Terror of the Skies keeping him quiet "I agree. If there are already search parties looking for us then the Guardians must be worried."

"There is no need to fret over that. Last night before the feast I sent a falcon with a message to Prowlus telling him of your arrival here and the good news you bring" he handed Spyro a piece of paper "that was the reply I received this morning"

We are relieved to hear that they made it back safely

Please inform them that we shall await them with open arms once they arrive in Warfang

As temporary chief I want you to ensure that they depart before the sun sits at its highest

You only mentioned two dragons but three were sent into battle. Is the Fire Guardian not there?

-Prowlus

As Spyro read the last part of the message he looked downcast very quickly. The previous night Cynder had to retell the entire event at the Ring of Flames (minus the part where Spyro was overtaken by darkness) as Spyro was unable to speak about it at all.

Both dragons thanked the temporary chief as they took to the skies, knowing that they would once again be caught in a feast of epic proportions and be made to retell their adventure.

xXx

There were thousands upon thousands of glowing silhouettes charging towards a large city that Hunter did not recognize as it was covered in shadows. There were five different glowing colors among the unknown advancing army. Blood red, icy blue, dark green, bright yellow and a pure white.

Standing around the city while facing towards the incoming threat were dragons, yet Hunter knew they were hopelessly outnumbered. He could see a large dragon addressing the croud, but no sound came from his moving maw.

As he finished his speech all the dragons seemed to roar and fire a barrage of fireballs, icicles, arcs of electricity and large chunks of earth at the approaching army. Hunter watched as some of the long ranged attacks hit their targets they burst with a small explosion of light while some of the attacks got absorbed into their targets.

Shorty afterwards the glow of several of the figures got brighter before they unleashed their own long ranged attack. But like the figures the attacks were nothing but a bright glow.

The exchange of attacks continued while the figures kept advancing towards the dragons. Eventually the dragons charged forward, horns lowered to impale the front lines. As they collided Hunter was blinded by a bright flash.

Hunter sat up with a start, his fur wet from the amount he was sweating 'What sort of dream was that?'

He looked towards the sky and saw the sun would rise soon. Hunter slowly got up, still disoriented from the strange dream he had.

Deciding to get his mind off of the dream he strapped his quiver to his back, picked up his bow and went to the river in search of an early morning catch.

As he walked by the river his thoughts were focused on the dream he had. Hunter was plagued by one constantly nagging question: 'What were those things?'

He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard something land behind him. He spun around, ready to defend himself from the potential enemy.

"Is everything alright Hunter?" asked Tremble "My shift does not end for another hour and a half."

"It's…It's nothing, I am just a bit distracted.." Hunter lied. The last thing he needs is his team thinking their leader has gone off the deep end.

Tremble might have noticed this lie if he had not come to tell Hunter something "I went back towards that obelisk we found yesterday as I got an uneasy feeling from it and I found something slightly troubling."

Hunter raised an eyebrow as he also felt something wrong there during his short search there "What would that be?" He asked, prompting the earth dragon to continue.

"The obelisk has disappeared along with all evidence that it ever was there. I found no hole, not even a dent where it used to stand, yet our tracks are still there."

"That is disturbing." Hunter said with worry evident in his voice "We will continue the search further along the river for the rest of the day and head back tomorrow. We start our search early; let's head back to camp to wake the others."

xXx

Ever since the message of Spyro spending the night in the cheetah village reached his ears Sparx has been patrolling the walls nonstop. He was getting tired but the thought of seeing his brother again easily overwhelmed his weariness.

As the day wore on he was joined by Terrador, evidently just as ancious as Sparx.

"When will they make it back?" asked Sparx as he scanned the horizon once again.

"Only time will tell young Sparx." Terrador said as he looked down to the much smaller insect "Prowlus stated clearly that they will leave the village before the morning is over."

"Yeah but I still want to see him as soon as possible!" Sparx nearly yelled.

"Patience, Sparx. They shall still arrive before nightfa-" Terrador started but he was forced to end his sentence short due to the alarm horn 'One..Two short blows' Terrador mentally counted 'and two longer ones'. Terrador looked in the direction where the alarm indicated to "Something has been sighted between the northern and eastern gates." Terrador stated.

Sparx was filled with new energy "Do you think it could be them?" asked Sparx while following Terrador's gaze. Before Terrador could answer Sparx darted off towards the north-eastern wall at a speed that would put a Wind Dragon to shame.

"I can hear the alarm, I guess that spotted us." Spyro said as they got closer to the Dragon City.

"Do you think they'll give us a warmer welcome than the cheetah village?" Cynder asked as she nervously looked for any potential dangers.

"I don't think they'll attack us before identifying us first. After all we know they know we are coming." Spyro said.

"Yeah, you are probably rig- Spyro look out!" Cynder frantically said as she saw what appeared to be an incredibly fast and small fireball heading towards them.

"Gah!" Spyro cried in surprise as he felt something make contact with the space between his eyes.

"Spyrooooooooo!" screamed the fireball as it clung to the purple dragon "I missed you, are you hurt? Are you tired? Can we get rid of the she-demon flying beside us?"

Spyro smiled happily upon recognizing the voice of the not-so-hot fireball "It's great to see you too Sparx!"

"Hi there you little mosquito!" Cynder exclaimed happily.

"You are so lucky that I am having a moment with my brother!" Sparx said while raising a fist at her "But it's good to see you atleast kept your promise to me." he continued with a warm smile.

As the three landed they were met by the Guardians.

"It's absolutely marvelous to see you again in such a pristine condition young dragons!" Volteer declared happily.

"Welcome back young ones, it certainly is grand to see you again." Cyril said while smiling at the young dragons "But where is Ignitus? He was not even mentioned in the note sent to us from the cheetah village."

At that Spyro averted his eyes as a sad expression crept on his face.

"He gave his life to save us from the Ring of Fire." Cynder answered for him.

"That is most unfortunate. Spyro you must not let the death of Ignitus bother you." Terrador said in a soothing voice "He gave his life not only doing his duty as a Guardian, but also saving the one precious to him."

"Can we please talk about this later?" Spyro asked in a sad tone, yet he felt slightly better from Terrador's words.

Sparx quickly flew in to save his foster brother from more questions "Come on big guy! Let's get you to your room." He glanced at Cynder "There is a nice field of grass not too far from here, you might like it."

That seemed to get Spyro somewhat distracted "Sparx…" he said menacingly.

"Oh fine, follow me she-demon" Sparx said as he dropped his arms in defeat while a small smile tugged on his mouth.

xXx

"How long did Terrador say it would take for them to find us again?" Asked Megan with a yawn.

"He didn't, are you sure we took the right tunnel?" came the reply of a light-red scaled dragon beside her.

"Yes I am sure! Really Krieg, don't you have any faith in me?" she asked with a playful tone in her voice.

Krieg sighed "Of course I do, but this is getting ridiculous, we have been down here for so long and so far we saw no signs of any dragon settlement, what's more our damn bird flew away when we go close to the cave!"

"Of course we wouldn't find any evidence of them being here, it is called a 'hidden' settlement after all." Megan replied with a hint of superiority in her statement.

"Sometimes you are just impossible.." Krieg sighed.

"Who's there? Identify yourself or we will strike you down!" came a commanding voice from an unseen source.

Megan nearly panicked at the harshness of the voice but maintained her composure "We are messengers from Warfang, we have business with your leader. The Guardian of Earth, Terrador, gave us directions to this place."

After a few minutes of silence the voice spoke again "Very well, we will take you to the settlement. Keep walking straight and you will find me." said the voice "But be warned, should you try anything at all you will be crushed without hesitation by the rest of the dragons surrounding you." said the voice more threateningly this time.

Megan and Krieg both did as instructed and soon came upon a large earth dragon.

"Follow me closely. If you even try to build up the energy for a breath attack we will know and make sure it never leaves your maw, am I clear?" asked the earth dragon with authority.

Both Krieg and Megan nodded in agreement as they started following the larger earth dragon.

After making many twists, turns and a few drops down holes they finally made it to a much more open cavern. There were many shelters built out of stone scattered across the cavern.

Krieg suddenly realized that he was able to clearly see the area ahead of him even though he was now deep underground "Umm, earth dragon guide? How are we able to see this clearly underground?"

He simply lifted one paw up and pointed it to the ceiling in the middle of the cavern. Both Megan and Krieg followed the talon. Upon finding the source of their curiousness their eyes went wide with surprise. Upon the ceiling was the single largest crystal either of them ever saw. It was easily as big as atleast 5 of the homes around them; in comparison, a normal 'large' gem would be as big as the door of one of said houses.

As they reached the central building they easily saw that it was much bigger than the rest of the buildings around them, but still just made of rock.

"Wait here." the earth dragon told them as he went inside. A short while later the earth dragon emerged again, followed by a large fire dragon.

"Are these the dragons from Warfang?" He asked the earth dragon beside him.

"As they claim to be, but they are unable to provide any evidence supporting their claims." the earth dragon informed his leader.

"Then speak, give me a reason not to imprison you for seeing this place." said the fire dragon with a strong voice.

"We were sent by the Earth Guardian, Terrador, to deliver a message for a dragon named Axen" Megan said with as much respect as she could manage.

"Then you are talking to the right dragon, tell me this message." Axen said while slightly relaxing.

"The war is over, Malefor has been defeated along with his army and the world has been pulled back from the brink of collapse." Megan said while looking at the shocked faces of the 2 dragons ahead of her.

However, their shocked expressions did not last for long as it was soon replaced with suspicion "You lie, the Dark Master could only be killed by a purple dragon as stated in the legends." Axen spoke finally.

"Three days ago the Destroyer attempted to invade Warfang. It was stopped by the efforts of the city, however the Dark Master used his powers to get it moving again." Megan spoke as she recalled past events "Three dragons were sent to defeat Malefor before the Destroyer could make it to the city. Those dragons were Spyro the purple dragon, Ignitus the Guardian of Fire and Cynder-"

"The Terror of the Skies? That monstrosity is with the Dark Master!" Axen was now enraged by what he was convinced was a lie.

"She used to be with the Dark Master; the purple dragon defeated her and purged the darkness from her many years ago. She has fought with us since, and helped defeat Malefor as I said moments ago." Krieg intervened before the situation got out of hand.

"Morris!" Axen snapped, still enraged, but he was starting to calm down "Get Zaak and Laciter here, now!"

Saluting with one wing the earth dragon named Morris flew to get the two wind dragons.

"One of you shall remain here while the other goes back to Warfang with Zaak and Laciter. I want more evidence than the word of two fire dragons, bring me one of the Guardians to confirm your words." Axen said as three dragons landed near them.

"Yes Axen?" Said a white scaled dragon. He was a wind dragon in his prime, not a hatchling anymore but still not quite an adult yet. He and the second white dragon were both slightly shorter then Krieg. The second white dragon looked a lot like the first, but where the first had a pale yellow underbelly the second one had a much darker shade of yellow.

"I want you both to travel with one of these dragons towards Warfang to retrieve a Guardian." Axen said while pointing at Krieg.

"With all due respect, the Guardians are preoccupied with the repairs in Warfang, they will not be able to leave as they are needed there." argued Megan.

Axen glared at the dragoness "Then your friend will need to make a plan once he gets there. You will remain prisoner until he returns. Go now and you will make it to Warfang before morning." he turned his attention to Morris "Take this one to a single room house and gather 2 dragons to constantly be with her" He once again turned to Krieg "If you are not back in a day I will send the dragoness to the dungeons, clear?"

"Yes." Krieg said firmly.

With that he was led out by Zaak and Laciter. As they took flight a strong tailwind helped them along 'I guess that's why these two wind dragons need to go with me.' Krieg thought to himself as he flew faster than he ever did before.

xXx

Spyro slowly opened his eyes as he awoke the next morning. Once again he was forced to attend another feast and retell his adventure with Cynder. He really hoped it was the last time he had to do so.

He lazily got up and stretched to rid himself of his stiffness. He slumped over to his balcony where he got an amazing view of the city. Next to his own room was Cynders'.

After lingering on that spot for a little while more he felt a rumbling somewhere inside of him. He instantly knew what it meant and took off in the direction of the city's cafeteria.

As he flew over the dragon city he saw few dragons on the streets. At the feast the previous night Spyro estimated there to be about 20 dragons, some of which were still injured but mostly recovered thanks to the Spirit Gems. To his dismay he only saw around 4 or 5 dragons his age.

As Spyro arrived at the cafeteria he received similar treatment from the dragons as he got from the cheetahs. He was expecting this of course.

"Hello Master Spyro!" Beamed a mole from behind the counter "What can I get for you?"

"Umm, do you have any meat? Raw preferably." Spyro asked the small creature.

"Right away Master Spyro!" Said the mole as he scurried to the back of the room.

Spyro looked around for an open table. When he finally found one he walked towards it and awaited his meal.

"Good morning young dragon." Spyro spun around to find the source of the voice as none other than the Guardian of Earth.

"Good morning Terrador." Greeted Spyro "How are you?"

"I have been better young dragon; I have come here to summon you to a very urgent meeting. The guardians need to talk to you, Cynder is already there." Terrador informed the purple dragon.

Upon mention of her name Spyro was ready to go there now, but he was stopped by Terrador "Eat first Spyro, you will need your energy.y" Terrador said as he gestured towards a mole approaching them with a platter of meat.

"I hope you enjoy your meal Master Spyro!" The mole said as he hastily scurried away.

Spyro finally arrived at his destination and upon entering he was met with the faces of Cyril the Ice Guardian, Volteer the Electricity Guardian, Prowlus the Cheetah Chief, Cynder and 3 dragons he did not know. He smiled at her as he came to a stop in the middle of the room, a gesture that she happily returned.

"Hello young Spyro! I trust the festive feasting of the previous evening was much to your delight and enjoyment, causing pride and a sense of-" Volteer started.

"I am sure he did Volteer." Cyril interrupted the excited Electricity Guardian "I am afraid we must make haste, we have no time to spare for formalities."

"What's this about?" Spyro asked, he was very curious as to what would cause the Guardians to call him and Cynder into a meeting so soon after they arrived.

"I am afraid Cyril is right" Terrador said "Spyro, I know you and Cynder just got back from a very exhausting journey, but you are needed once more. Krieg here has just returned from the eastern settlement along with these two wind dragons Zaak" he gestured to the white dragon with the pale yellow underbelly "and Laciter" he repeated his gesture at the other white dragon.

"We were sent to retrieve a Guardian to confirm Krieg and his partner Megan's words." Zaak explained "Unfortunately it is critical that the Guardians remain here, therefore we need you and Cynder to accompany us to vouch for these dragons"

"We are in a hurry, we need to leave as soon as possible, immediately if that is possible" Laciter added.

Spyro looked towards Cynder with worry in his eyes "I am ready to go now, but Cynder can stay if she wants to"

Cynder looked back at him. She knew what he meant, she was glad that he was worried about her "Not a chance Spyro, you and I both know that trouble follows you wherever you go. I need to look after you and we both know that" she turned to the other 3 dragons "I am ready to go now." Cynder stated with deterimation.

Spyro was relieved that he would not have to venture into the unknown by himself. He knew he could count on Cynder. At that moment he remembered he had something he wanted to ask her. He cursed himself for forgetting something so important.

"Then we leave now" Krieg said hastily. He was by no means looking forward to another 6 hours of accelerated flight, but he knew Megan would suffer if he did not hurry back.

As he said that the 5 dragons left the building and took to the skies. The moment they were high enough a strong tailwind hit them and they started flying much faster and using much less energy due to updrafts helping them from time to time.

xXx

"Flame! Ember!" came the shout of a certain energetic earth dragon "You guys have to come with me! Michael overheard something amazing last night!" Sion practically jumped around with enthusiasm.

"Aww let the guy have some fun" Ember said as she nudged him on "Hurry up, I want to hear what Michael heard."

The sudden contact of their scales caused Flame to blush slightly as he started walking "I-I'm going I'm going! Stop pushing me!"

"Hmhm, you don't like it when I touch you?" Ember teased her oh-so-obvious friend.

Flame had no answer to those words other than to add another layer of red to his blush.

After many twists and turns they eventually found the three dragons they were looking for at their usual meeting place.

"Finally!" Sion called "You two are so slow!"

"Are not! You just sprinted at full speed!" Flame retorted.

"Leave them be Sion, we all know the real reason they took so long." Said a voice belonging to a green dragon. At first glance he looks like a normal earth dragon with green scales. But if you looked at his chest or horns you will find quite the strange sight. His underbelly, horns and tail blade were all a dark blue color. His horns are angled slightly, making them look like Spyro's. His tail ended in a sharp spade form.

Flame recalled his previous contact with the pink dragoness and a blush rivaling the one he had minutes ago spread across his face "Shut it Michael!" Flame shot back.

"What did you want to tell us?" Ember asked, not at all phased by the oddly colored dragon's words.

"Well it's about something I heard my dad discuss with Axen." Michael began "I was just wandering around while looking for something to do when I saw my dad fly overhead with Zaak and Laciter. I followed them to hear when the next hunting trip was. When I saw him land at Axens hut I hid behind the corner to wait for him to finish."

"I don't see how a hunting trip could be this interesting." Flame muttered.

"He's getting to the good part, just wait a little bit." Darman told his fire breathing friend.

"Anyway, it's not the hunting trip that was so amazing, it's what I overheard." Michael continued while now having the full attention of Flame and Ember "Zaak and Laciter set out with a fire dragon to get one of the Guardians from Warfang! One of the actual Guardians of the Elements is coming here!"

"That…That's amazing!" Ember shouted out of excitement.

"Wow, to think I might be able to meet Ignitus, the greatest fire dragon of his generation.." Flame said clearly in awe.

"It gets better hothead!" Sion said, amused by the expression on Flames' face "We're sneaking out to meet with them before they enter here. Do you really think we'll be able to even talk to the Guardian once he enters here?"

"I suppose not, but when do you suppose they'll be here? And in what direction will they come from?" asked Flame worried that he might miss the chance to meet his idol.

"There is only one entrance to this place, so they will have to go by there" Darman explained "We'll have to wait and hide nearby since Zaak and Laciter will just chase us away if they spot us. We'll need to talk to the Guardian when those 2 are away from him for long enough."

"Then what are we wasting time here for? Let's go!" Sion said excitedly as he ran off.

"W-Wait for us!" Darman yelled after him.

xXx

"This is taking sooooo long!" Said a childish voice from a cavern draped in shadows "I am bored out of my skul! I'd rather be slumbering again than to suffer like this…" the female voice continued.

"It hasn't even been a week Flake, just calm down. Even if the Elementals have been awakened like you claimed they have, it will still take them long to awaken their brethrens and even longer to find us." said a ever bored voice.

"Shut it Thundron!" the Corrupted Ice Guardian known as Flake snapped at the Corrupted Electricity Guardian "I can feel that they are awake! You know how it feels when they arise."

"You two are beginning to annoy me." said a harsh voice from a scythe-tail-tipped dragon "Shut up before I make you."

"Clayf, your Elementals will need to be awoken next, have you felt anything yet?" Thundron asked still as bored as ever.

"No not yet. It annoys me to great lengths but I think Malefor might be intervening with the progress of the Ice Elementals." said the deep voice of the Corrupted Earth Guardian.

"We might have to find a for one of us to get out of here and directly help the Elementals" Appolonir thought out loud "Flake, since you appear the least threatening-"

"Hey!" Flake shouted indignantly.

"-you will have to best chance at blending in with the general dragon populous." Appolonir continued as if he were never interrupted.

"That's a great idea and all big guy, but how do you suppose we do that?" Thundron asked as if he just woke up.

"The way I see it the Guardians built this place to prevent us from recovering any energy at all." Appolonir explained "But they aren't able to stop the burst of power we get when the Elementals awaken. This place is likely designed to trap dragons with Dark energies. Since Flake is still young her power is still developing, so draining her completely might leave her without an element for a while but she will recover."

"Then she'll be able to assist the Elementals." Claf continued "If I were to receive the temporary power boost I will be able to get her out of here, but she will be vulnerable to Malefor's forces for quite some time"

"Then how will I survive long enough to even give my aid?" Flake asked curiously.

"Head to Warfang and tell them you are a refugee from the war who lost your parents in a raid by the Dark Army." Clayf explained.

"This will never work ya know." Thundron added helpfully.

"What other choice do we have? If we wait here it could be years until we are freed." Appolonir said "Flake, once we do this we will fall back to our slumber. We will be drained for all we are worth, do not prolong the sleep longer than it has to. Understood?" Appolonir asked in a evil tone.

"Y-Yes" Flake said while scared to death at the edge his words carried "So I am to head to Warfang while avoiding the Dark Army without the use of my powers. Recover there until I am fit enough to aid the Elementals and then awaken you all from yet another slumber? Seems doable…"

"That is correct. Do not rush your recovery; it could take weeks, even months, before you are ready. Now we wait for the Earth Elementals to awaken." Clayf said as he lay down.

xXx

Krieg was beginning to feel the toll of flying for nearly 2 days straight, his determination to help Megan never faltered, but his body could not keep up for much longer and he knew it.

"Zaak." he called out to the white dragon.

He turned his head in his direction "Yes?"

"I know we are in a rush to get back but I am exhausted, could we take a short break when we approach the caves?"

"I do not see any harm in that Zaak." Laciter said "We will enter the caves and tell Axen that you are here and we will come back to get you after you rested a bit."

"Sorry for being a bother." Krieg apologized.

"It's understandable." Zaak said as he waved it off "You 2 should also wait with him while we discuss what the Guardians told us with our chief."

"Fine with me." Spyro said.

"Good, the mountains are just ahead, there is a clearing near a small river branching from the Silver River, you can rest there." Zaak said as he pointed to said location.

With a quick 'thanks', Spyro, Cynder and Krieg descended there to allow their lost energy to replenish.

"I don't think you had any breakfast, I'll go hunt for some food." Spyro offered the exhausted fire dragon.

"I'll go too." Cynder added.

"Thank you, but I will be fine. Do not waste more time on me." Krieg said as he took a drink from the river.

"Nonsense! I am also hungry. Be back in a bit, come on Cynder!" Before the fire dragon had a chance to voice his argument they were gone.

xXx

"Look! Here comes Zaak and Laciter!" Sion said urgently "Hide!"

The five young dragons swiftly hid from view as the 2 wind dragons passed them.

"The Guardian is not with them?" remarked Darman sadly.

"Maybe he had to rest, I bet they fought with some of the Dark Army on their way here!" Flame said excitedly.

"What are we still doing here then? Let's go find him!" Michael said and all 5 of them started searching in the direction the 2 wind dragons came from.

After about 10 minutes of fruitless search a voice came from close by.

"Ha! Good job! You actually caught it" said an unknown dragoness.

"I think it came from that direction" Ember whispered as she pointed at some bushes.

"Of course I did Cynder! Did you think I am that bad at hunting?" came a new voice, however at those words all 5 of them froze in fear.

"C-Cynder? The Terror of the Skies?" Ember said in a voice trembling with fear.

"What is that monster doing this close to our home?" Darman said in an equal amount of fear.

"She must be planning to invade us. It sounds like there are only 2 of them. We can take them, let's sneak up on them to get the drop on them." said Sion. His voice was filled with more rage than fear 'She will die for what she did to her!'

"Ember, I want you to look for the Guardian, Darman go with her and keep her safe." Flame said sternly, leaving no room for argument.

They both nodded in understanding and walked away from the fast approaching fight.

"Well you weren't able to even stand on your own a few days ago, so yes, I was not expacting this." she teased the purple scaled dragon.

"Whatever, let's get back to the- Hey what's that?" Spyro interrupted himself as he approached a rustling bush.

'Damn! He saw me!' Michael thought bitterly to himself 'and he's purple, the only purple dragon I know of is...' His thoughts trailed off as he was blindsided by a new fear 'Malefor!'

Michael was shivering with fear now; he has heard tales of the overwhelming power of Malefor. He knew they stood no chance against this opponent.

Not very far away from Michael, Flame and Sion were having similar thoughts "I will take on the Terror of the Skies, you help Michael fight Malefor, with any luck we can keep them busy long enough for Ember and Darman to find the Guardian." Sion said softly as he glared at the monster that killed his mother and scarred his father.

"I hope you know what you're doing. But if we die, we die knowing we did so protecting our home" Flame stated with determination.

Spyro was wondering what could be the cause of the bush shaking like it was 'Must be another rabbit caught in it or something. Easy catch at least!' Spyro thought as he inwardly smiled at his own luck.

However that soon changed when a stream of water shot from the bush, freezing anything it hit. He quickly rolled to the side, evading the freezing attack "Look out behind you!" shouted Cynder from somewhere to his left.

He barely had any time to respond when he was jumped by a red dragon.

"Sion now!" shouted the blood red dragon on top of him.

Cynder quickly swung in the direction that the red dragon looked at. Out of the bushes burst a grass green scaled dragon. He was slightly larger than the red one on top of Spyro.

"You will not invade our home you damn murderers!" Shouted the green dragon she assumed was Sion.

"Sion! Don't rush her! You know she is dangerous!" Shouted a second green scaled dragon emerging from the frozen area.

"Malefor? You think I'm Malefor?" Spyro said in disbelief as he blocked a strike from the dragon on top of him "Please! Wait! There's a huge misunderstanding! I am not Malefor!" Spyro shouted as he pushed the red dragon off of him.

"Haha sure you aren't!" Said the red dragon in a very sarcastic voice "And I am sure that thing isn't the Terror of the Skies!" he practically spat out the last few words.

Cynder sent an incoming earth missile off course with a gust of wind, making it miss by a mile "Give us a chance to explain, we aren't here to fight you" Cynder said desperately to the enraged earth dragon.

"Like you gave my mother a chance?!" Sion shouted as he hit her with a pillar of earth from below.

"Cynder!" Spyro shouted in concern "They won't listen to reason, we'll need to beat them to make the talk to us!" Spyro said as he dodged another stream of freezing water.

"Michael you need to stop doing that, you won't be able to stand for much longer if you keep that up." Flame said to his fighting partner next to him, careful not to let their adversary hear him.

"I know but if we don't end this soon they will destroy us." Michael retorted.

"Just stick to your earth element until you get a clear shot." Flame said before leaping at the purple dragon, talons covered in flames.

Cynder knew this would not be a hard fight, the green dragon she was facing was sluggish and his actions filled with anger. However Cynder could not find it in herself to fight this dragon 'I killed his mother, I put him through enough already. I'll just let him exhaust himself'

Spyro jumped in the air to avoid the incredibly hot talons coming his way. As he jumped up and let the fire dragon pass beneath him a pillar of earth rose up in front of the fire dragon, giving him a surface to use his momentum to jump back at the vulnerable purple dragon.

Spyro was caught completely off guard by the unexpected maneuver "Gah!" he cried out in pain as the flaming talons penetrated his back, causing him extreme pain.

Spyro retaliated by hitting the red dragon in the side of the head with his tail, sending him crashing to the ground. Spyro knew he would have to use his elements if he wanted to survive this as he had not recovered to 100% yet.

He focused on the ice within him, forcing it to gather into a raging storm within his body. Seconds later Spyro opened his maw to unleash the cold and put the fire dragon out of the fight. But all that came was a cold breeze.

'What the? Damn! My powers must have been more exhausted than I thought!' Spyro berated himself for not discovering such a crucial flaw sooner.

Flame looked at the purple dragon in bewilderment, unsure of what to make of the cold wind that just hit him 'I was sure he was going to freeze me'

As the purple dragon landed he was rushed from 2 sides. As the 2 dragons got close enough Spyro spun around, catching the approaching earth and ice dragon painfully on the leg with his tail. He was not fast enough to block or avoid the powerful strike the fire dragon gave him, sending them tumbling over each other.

Out of pure desperation Spyro gathered all the fire he could muster to the back of his throat hoping to atleast unleash a small jet of flames to get the fire dragon off of him. To his dismay all that came out was thick, black smoke.

The temporary distraction was all he needed to get out of the tumble he was sure to lose. He looked over to the dragon that he hit earlier in the leg and saw that he was unable to get up due to the injury.

Meanwhile Cynder was still avoiding the bezerking earth dragon.

"Stop mocking me you coward!" Sion bellowed in rage as yet another earth spike missed the Terror of the Skies "Fight back!"

"No, I have done enough to you." Cynder said in a trembling voice.

Sion did not miss the tone of regret in her voice or the building tears in her eyes, but he knew it was just a trick to get him to stop attacking so she could finish the fight.

Sion continued his relentless onslaught of attacks, never taking his eyes off of his target. But when she jumped back to put space between them he dared a glance at the 2 fighting Malefor. His heart stopped at what he saw. Michael was lying motionless on the ground behind Flame with a bloody face.

Sion looked at the purple dragon they were fighting, he was also covered in blood, much more than Flame. Then he saw red as he charged at the purple dragon facing away from him.

"Spyro! Look out!" Cynder shouted, desperately trying to catch the dragon intent on killing Spyro. That proved to be her undoing. The once motionless green dragon lifted his head and made a pillar of earth rise directly from beneath Cynder, causing it to impale her on the side.

Cynder gave a cry of pain. Spyro quickly swung around to help Cynder. When he looked away from the fire dragon he was met with painful cut on his side by the incoming earth dragon. Spyro was thrown back by the force of the impact, sending him towards the fire dragon.

Flame saw his chance to kill the Dark Master, to end the war. He gathered as much fire as he possibly could, focusing it into the most intense jet of flames he ever made. He opened his maw, unleashing the built up fire in a stream of rock melting fire directly towards Spyro.

Spyro saw his end rapidly approaching him. Not knowing what else to do he tried frantically to use an ability he knew he lost after defeating Gaul. He forced his ability outward, slowing time down to a near standstill. Spyro quickly tried to dodge his impending doom, but he was only able to slow time down for less than a second before he lost control over it.

'Guess this is the end.' Spyro thought as he started feeling the heat of the approaching inferno.

"Flame stop!" came a shout of panic before he was tackled to the ground.

Spyro felt a very strange yet strong force pulling him quickly out of the way towards a dark blue colored dragon with thick jet black lines on his body.

Cynder was scooped up by a much larger fire dragon, taking her away from the still enraged earth dragon.

"He's not Malefor!" said the dragoness pinning him down.

"What are you talking about?! He's a purple dragon! Who else could he be?" Flame retorted.

"He's the one the Guardians sent to talk to Axen, so is the one we thought is the Terror of the Skies!" Those words from Ember seemed to slightly calm down the battle ready dragon.

"Are you ok?" asked a concerned voice above Spyro. It was the dragon that Spyro believed saved him. He lifted his head to get a better look at him. The first thing Spyro noticed about this dragon was that the black lines on his body were slowly becoming smaller.

Finally processing what was happening, Sion realized the one he hated the most in the world has just been saved by a large fire dragon, making him an enemy as well. He charged as fast as he could towards the injured dragoness, ready to end her life.

Before he reached them he was hit by a strong gust of wind, sending him far to the side. He looked towards the direction of the attack and saw 2 very angry looking wind dragons rushing towards the fight.

"What are you doing! The enemy of all dragons is right there! We can kill her easily!" Sion shouted.

"You insolent hatchling! They are the ones we brought with us from Warfang, and you greet them by attacking them!" Zaak said as he snarled at the earth dragon "They are not our enemies, they are here to talk with Axen!"

Sion could not believe what he was hearing, they were about to allow the Terror of the Skies into their home!

He looked toward Michael and saw Ember with him, helping him up.

"Stop it Sion, I don't think that Cynder is the same Cynder that leads the raids on the dragon settlements, I don't even think that purple dragon is Malefor." Flame said to calm his friend down.

Sion looked at the downed black dragoness 'She didn't even try to attack me I was so blinded by rage that I couldn'\t even see that!' he thought bitterly to himself.

Now guilt started eating away at him. He had just attacked an innocent dragoness that didn't even try to fight back. He ruthlessly attacked the purple dragon out of rage. What if he had killed one of them?

"She's still breathing, but she's hurt badly." Krieg said to the wind dragons.

"Put them on our backs, we need to get them to the infirmary." said Laciter as he went over to the wounded purple dragon.

"You five come with us, when we get to the settlement Axen will know of what you did." said Zaak angrily.

The 5 dragons hung their heads in shame, silently following the wind dragons. Michael was being supported by 2 of his friends as his leg wound prevented him from walking on his own.

xXx

A/N

Now before the flaming begins about Spyro not having is powers let me explain. After his fight with Cynder in A New Beginning he lost his powers from exhaustion. Now correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that pulling the world back together is probably a lot more straining.

As for the new characters, Michael is an OC sent to me by MurasakiKuroAkai. Personally I love writing him because he loves to tease meant-to-be couples even more than Cynder and Ember love to tease the dragons closest to them.

Lastly, Clayf and Appolonir belong Xerneas. But for now they won't be playing a major role in the story.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

Again, no flames please. Spyro was very nearly killed by them, so give the guy some time to recover ^^

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.